Tempo Storm wins again on Road to BlizzCon as American qualification concludes

One team is looking like an easy favorite heading into the first Heroes of the Storm world championship.

Tempo Storm once again found itself on top of the North American scene as they took first place in the final Open Qualifier in North America on the Road to BlizzCon, the $500,000 tournament that will close the year.

Tempo Storm asserted its dominance over the region ahead of the major international tournaments by dropping just two maps in 12 matches across the three monthly qualifying tournaments, claiming $25,500 along the way.

Cloud9 finished in second place for the third time, losing to Tempo Storm twice in each of the three events, one time in the winner's and grand finals of the double elimination bracket.

Tempo Storm earned $12,000 for the win, giving them a total of $25,500 in winnings through the qualifying process. But the real prize was two berths in the Americas Championships, a $100,000 tournament in Las Vegas next month.

With the top two teams already having secured qualification in June and July, this final qualifier saw fierce competition for the final two berths for Las Vegas. After upsetting Cognitive Gaming, who had already qualified in July, CompLexity secured one of the two available spots. Newly christened Murloc Geniuses, playing in its first major outing since parting ways with sponsor Zeveron, soon joined them.

Australia and New Zealand region champions Immunity White and Relics from Southeast Asia will join Tempo Storm, Cloud9, COGnitive, Murloc Geniuses and CompLexity at the Americas Championship with one final entrant to be determined. The champions from Latin America will be decided this weekend, with Brave Ozone and CNB e-sports Club looking like favorites to claim the spot.

The America Championship will take place Sep. 19 and 20 in Las Vegas, with the winner and runner-up advancing to the finals at BlizzCon in November as well as taking the lion's share of the $100,000 prize pool.